Roof



Nov. 26, 1946. i

M. R. Br-:AsLEY 2,411,771

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Patented Nov. 26, l1946 ROOF Milton R. Beasley, Norwood, Mass., asslgnor to Bird & Son, inc., East Walpole, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application september 11, 1944, serial No. 553,520

2 claims. (C1. 10s-s) novel and improved prefabricated roofing assem- 5 bly comprising a series of interchangeable roofing units vwhich are easily and quickly erected to provide a roof which is of uniform appearance, good quality, and of any desired size, and is so constructed and arranged as to avoid any posunits.

sibility of leakage particularly along the line of juncture of the several units or panels.

With this and other objects in view as may hereinafter appear, the several features of the invention consist in the devices, combinations andarrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed, which together with the advantages to be obtained thereby will be readily understood by one skilled in the art from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a somewhat fragmentary face view showing portions of two roong panels mounted on three adjacent rafters and with a number of the inserts or flller shingles between the panels in position;

Fis. 2 is a detailed face view of one of the panels with a portion of the roofing material and the top board of the panel broken .away to illustrate more particularly the underlying arrangement of battens and ller insulating mai terial;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detailed sectional -view taken on the line 3`3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detailed sectional view 35 taken on theline 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detailed sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a face view of the panel with the facing material and a portion of the top board 40 broken away to illustrate particularly the arrangement of the battens and filler insulating material;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged perspective View of an insert or filler shingle formed with laterally extending anges for flashing the joint; and

. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a roofing panel sectioned both lengthwise and widthwise of the panel to illustrate the construction and arrangement of the panel. The prefabricated roofing assembly of the present invention comprises a prefabricated siding or roong unit which may be constructed of any desired size, but is preferably made in four feet widths and in lengths varying from eight feet to sixteen feet, and preferably the full length from eaves to ridge of a roof. It is presupposed that units will be placed on heavy rafters spaced two or four feet apart so that adjacent panels :may be supported side-by-side m in abutting relation with the line of juncture extending down the middle of the rafter, though the units may be made sufilciently rigid so as to dispense with supporting rafters.

The insulated panels are built up from layers of plywood and intervening insulating material, preferably, or may be a single-sheet of plywood with a surface layer of a conventional overlapping roofing material such as wood shingles, clapboards. asphalt or asbestos siding This material is applied in courses in overlapping, relation on the panel and with the ends of successive courses terminating .inwardly from the edge of the panel in staggered relation. Filler units of the said roofing material of suitable dimensions and texture are provided for lling in said courses to form an unbroken`l and the filler members are constructed an'd arrangedto be inserted in relationvthereto so that the joint is effectively concealedand the panels including the jointed or filled portions thereof are completely waterproofed and well adapted to withstand continued exposure to the weather.-

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the invention comprises a roofing panel -|0 which is assumed for purposes of illustration to be four feet wide and sixteen or more feet long'. The insulated lpaneLas best shown in Figs/2, 3 4 and 6, comprises specifically a -bottom plywood board l2 and a top plywood board Il which are separated by battens including two longitudinally extending edge battens I6, a central longi-a tudinally extending batten I8 and a series of laterally extending battens including the top and bottom edge battens 20 and intervening spacing battens 22. The battens may have a thickness, for example. of one to two inches, depending on the rigidity desired. The interior spaces of the panel provided by this construc- .tion are filled with a suitable insulating material which may consist of rockwool, glasswool, cork or the like, and is indicated at 24. In order to provide protection for the exposed edges of the panel and more particularly the plywood portions thereof, a strip of treated building paper 28, such as asphalt paper, is folded over the edges of the panel and secured in place. surface of the panel is covered with a conven tional overlapping roofing material. In the illustrated form of the invention, asbestos siding units or strips 30 are employed, marked and grained to simulate wooden shingles, and further formed with heavy butt portions andrela tively thin head portions to facilitate laying.` The asbestos siding units are laid in the usual manner starting at the lower edge of the panel, the head portions being secured by nailing or The exactly filled by means of filler shingle units pro l vided for the purpose.

In accordance with the present invention, a filler shingle unit 34 is provided (see Fig. '7) which is formed with heavy butt and thin head portions to correspond with the shape of the asbestos siding units, and is further provided at each side thereof with a laterally extending flange or flashing element 36. The iiller units 34 are inserted into the spaces provided between the ends ofv the' courses in the adjoining panels, as shown in Figs.

l and 5, the anges 36 being thrust under theV edges of the adjacent shingles or asbestos strips 36 in the course. The ller shingle'34 is then secured in place by nailing or stapling the head portion thereof to the board i4, and the exposed butt is preferably cemented down to provide alv nished and completely leakproof assembly. Each successive course is completed in a similar manner .by the insertion of a iiller element which is pushed upwardly into position and secured in place by nailing the head portion and also preferably by cementing down the exposed butt portion of the insert. y

The roofing panels above described are of great strength, and have been found to be fully capable of carrying any snow load which may be imposed thereon. The frame construction provided by thctwo plywood layers and theintervening battens has a bending strength which is substantially in excess of the sum of the bending strengths of the individual plywood boards, and thus permits of the use of the relatively wide four foot span between supporting rafters. y

A further advantage of applicants panel construction consists in its remarkably great eflciency from the standpoint of insulation. The insulating medium employed is tightly encased in 'substantialy air-tight chambers provided between the plywood layers and battens. The insulating medium contained in this manner is well proy tected against powdering and against the tendency usually encountered for such materials to l,

settle and to pack down in the lower end of the chamber in which it is placed.

Applicants panel assembly is so constructedand arranged as t0 insure the most efiicient employment of a conventional overlapping roofing material to provide a roof which is of the desired size, which is completely tight, and of uniform appearance.

A very substantial saving is effected in the time required for erecting the roof of a dwelling. It has been found, for example, that in the manufacture of prefabricated houses, an ordinary 'crew of men can erect and close in a house in three or four hours, whereas thirteen hours or more would normally be required to apply a roof. Where'in accordance with the present invention, prefabricated roofing panels are emseven-eighths of Athe-labor is in the nature of shop work, and the time required for actual assembly is very substantially reduced.

A further advantage of the present construction consists in the fact that the erection or assembly of the roof can be readily carried out by unskilled labor. No particular skill is required to t the panels into their position, to slide the inserts into place, and to nail and to cement these clown as above described. The construction and arrangement of the roong assembly including particularly the overlapping roofing material is such as to insure the tightness of the 'roof once the inserts are in place.

It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiment shown, and that various deviations may be made therefrom without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A prefabricated panel roofing assembly which comprises a series of roofing panels in edge-to-edge relation, each consisting of a baseboard of suitable dimensions and conventional overlapping roofing material of the general type including wood shingle, clapboard and asbestos siding units laid in courses in overlapping relation on the baseboard and with the ends of successive courses terminating inwardly from the edge of the baseboard in varying amounts in staggered relation and undercut to provide a flange receiving space between said ends and the baseboard, and ller units of said roofing material oflike texture and'weather exposure with the courses of secured roong units, `and of a width when laid and secured in the spaces between adjacent `ends of said courses, to form continuous courses across said series of roofing panels, said filler units having on both sides thereof laterally extending flange portions arranged to extend beneath adjoining units of the course for flashing said filler units with relation to the adjoining units of said courses.

2. A prefabricated panel roofing assembly which comprises a series of roofing panels inv ing amounts and in staggered relation and under cut to provide a iiange receiving space between saidy ends and the baseboard, and filler units of said rooiing material of like texture and weather exposure with the courses of secured roofing units,

' of a width when laid and secured in the spaces between adjacent ends of said courses, to form continuous courses across said series of roofing panels, said filler units having on both sides thereof laterally extending flange portions arranged to extend beneath adjoining units of the course for flashing said filler units with relation to the adjoining units of said courses.

l MILTON R. BEASLEY. 

